


Just a call...

by UrsaeMinoris



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Belonging, Blades of Marmora, Canon Compliant, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Flashbacks, Friendship, Garrison trio, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Injury, Introspection, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Miscommunication, between Kral Zera and Bloodlines, set during season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 21:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14246568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UrsaeMinoris/pseuds/UrsaeMinoris
Summary: Sometimes, Keith misses his former team. Maybe he should give them a call to catch up. But that would be weird, right ?The garrison trio are worried about Shiro. Maybe they should give Keith a call to ask for his opinion. It would be nice to know how he is doing, too. But… That would be weird, right ?–Keith closed the screen he had used to watch the recording of Voltron On Ice. He would never admit it, but he had saved all of the Voltron Events, and sometimes replayed them when he missed the team. He had thought watching the show would ease his feelings, but it had achieved the opposite. The mixed bag of second hand embarrassment and fondness that he used to experience from those videos had now given in to wistfulness.Maybe he should just call them. But what was he supposed to say ? He couldn’t contact them without a valid reason.





	1. Individual

**Author's Note:**

> This was done for [platonicvldweek](http://platonicvldweek.tumblr.com/), on the prompt Individual/Group (I ended up using both themes).  
> English is not my first language and I don’t have a beta reader, so please be indulgent ! This one in particular was quite a struggle for me to write in english…  
> Feel free to comment here or on tumblr (<https://ursae-minoris-world.tumblr.com/> : [Just a Call](https://ursae-minoris-world.tumblr.com/post/172704337558/just-a-call)), I’d love to hear your thoughts !

Keith closed the screen he had used to watch the recording of Voltron On Ice. He would never admit it, but he had saved all of the Voltron Events, and sometimes replayed them when he missed the team. He had thought watching the show would ease his feelings, but it had achieved the opposite. The mixed bag of second hand embarrassment and fondness that he used to experience from those videos had now given in to wistfulness.

 

Maybe he should just call them. But what was he supposed to say ? He couldn’t contact them without a valid reason. They would be too busy to talk to him anyway. He’d have to wait to see them on screen, next time Kolivan would open an official communication with Voltron. He always made a point to have Keith with him when he did, even if Keith barely said anything at all. Maybe his being there somehow validated Kolivan’s input.

At least, during those meetings, he could check that everyone was safe and sound.

The calls had been more and more in between, though. To the point that the Paladins hadn’t even warned the Blades that Shiro was escorting Lotor to the Kral Zera. While the Blades were about to blow off the whole place !  They could have been killed ! His chest tightened painfully, the panic that had submerged him when seeing the black lion landing still reverberating through his bones.

 

Shiro… After Shiro’s return, they had kept butting heads. He could see why Shiro would feel frustrated, having to stay back while Keith flew his lion. Keith hadn’t understood why Shiro had insisted so much that he kept piloting Black. Maybe he wanted to be nice to Keith, giving up what meant so much to him in Keith’s favor.

Keith had hated it. Hated feeling like he was stealing his place. Hated even more their arguments.

He still missed him terribly now that he was away.

 

Keith unsh eath ed his blade, trying to ground himself with the sensation of the familiar handle under his fingers.

 

Sometimes, he wanted to go back to Voltron. To be part of the team again, to pilot a lion again. He had enjoyed flying with Red. But Red was Lance’s now, and he wouldn’t take that away from him. He knew they were all better off without him. He wondered if they were still mad at him, for having been such a shitty leader, for pulling away when they thought they needed him. But Shiro was back in the Black Lion, now, and _he_ was their rightful leader. Keith was of no use to them anymore.

 

They may already slowly be forgetting him. He never had really fitted in, after all. He wondered how he had let himself actually believe that _this_ time, this _one_ time it would work. It had ended like it always did, with every foster family, with the Garrison, with every group he had tried to be a part of. Pidge had called him a loner once, and she was right. Not that he enjoyed it that much, but sometimes it seemed being alone was the only way he was able to be.

 

His heart had started racing for some reason. He tried to take a few deep breaths to steady himself, but his chest was still hurting from a hit he had taken during the last mission. Possible fractured ribs, he assessed. He knew he should have had it checked out by a medic, just like he had been supposed to eat, but both the infirmary and the refectory would have been brimming with activity, and he had been yearning for the quietness of his quarters. Kolivan would disapprove, if he knew. The body was a weapon at the Blades’, and you were supposed to take care of it. And he would. Later.

 

At the Blades’, at least, he didn’t have to try to "bond with the team". He was expected to do teamwork efficiently, sure, but he didn’t have to befriend anyone. It was even better not to, because you never knew who would come back from the missions. He had let himself get attached to Regris and… that hadn’t ended well. The vision of the explosion suddenly engulfed everything. He squeezed his eyes shut, but eyelids couldn’t protect him from the images his brain was projecting.

 

A wave of dizziness washed over him, and he brought his legs up on his cot, folding them and gingerly resting his forehead on his knees. His ribs hurt with every movement.

His fingers were still clutching his knife, and he clung to that sensation while he was trying to steady his breathing, without inhaling too deeply to avoid the pain it caused.

Slowly, the vertigo reduced somewhat. Shiro had been the one to show him how to use breathing techniques to calm himself down, back at the Garrison.

 

No. Not a good idea to think of Shiro now. He tried to concentrate on something else instead. The only thing that he could evoke was his little shack in the desert. He tried to fill his mind with that, attempting to summon the few good memories he had of the quiet and the wildlife. It was all laced with grief and overwhelming loneliness, but he pushed those feelings away.

 

His com device ringed, making him jump. Which caused again a sudden burn in his ribcage. He took a few seconds to compose himself before answering:

"Yeah ?". He wanted to sound determined, but his voice was still raspy.

The face of Nyvak, one of the higher rank blades, appeared.

"Keith, you are late for training. Where are you ?"

Quiznak, a lot more time had passed than he had realized.

"Coming." He closed the communication and jogged towards the training deck.

 

Nyvak was already waiting for him on the sparring mats. But, even before he could join her, she frowned at him, straightened up, and sheathed her blade.

"You are hurt."

How did she… ? Oh, right. An experienced Blade like her would definitely notice that from the way he was moving.

"I’m..."

"Why didn’t you take care of it ? _What gave you the impression that training in that state would be a good idea ?!_ "

He pursed his lips and glared back, for lack of a better answer. She just started striding towards the door. "Come. You need medical attention."

He had no choice but to follow her. He had messed up again.


	2. Group

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, at the Castle...

Lance arrived in the rec room. Only Hunk and Pidge were there. Hunk sat on the couch, surrounded by tools and mechanical parts, tinkering with a nondescript box of metal.

Pidge sat cross legged near him, her computer settled in her lap, tapping intently on her keyboard.

Lance flopped on Hunk’s other side. "Where’s Allura ?"

Hunk gave Lance a short glance, before focusing on his mechanics project again. "Strategic meeting with Shiro, Lotor and Coran.."

"So, we don’t get invited to meetings anymore ?!" complained Lance, offended.

Pidge sighed. "It’s not like we were privy to every strategic discussion before."

"Yes, but..." Lance nervously ran his hand through his hair "I… I don’t know, it feels like they care less and less about our input." He bit his lower lip. "I mean… not Allura of course. I mean… Ok, I was talking about Shiro."

Hunk looked up again, and made eye-contact with Lance. "You mean how he shut you up last time."He added, thoughtfully : "That was weird."

 

Lance went boneless and slumped against the back of the couch with a sigh.

"Yeaaaah, I don’t know. I get that everyone is a little stressed out… and so discussions can get heated. That’s what I told Allura. She was a bit upset with his behavior, too..."

Hunk grunted. "Allura, too ? Man, so I’m not the only one finding it strange." He put the metallic box he was tinkering with down and folded his arms. "He just imposes his views and yells at us when somebody disagrees. Or gets behind our backs, like giving Lotor his bayard or bringing him to the Kral Zera. That’s not like him at all. It’s starting to smell fishy."

 

Pidge looked up from her computer, nervously adjusting her glasses. "But is it really that weird ? Have you considered we might have tended to idealize him ? Because of how much he was considered a hero, back on Earth ? The guy is back from Galra captivity for the second time ! Maybe it’s just normal that he lashes out sometimes..."

 

There was an uneasy silence while they considered that. Lance squirmed.

"Well, just what I was saying. And he did apologize. But...what happened in the mind melt was kinda weird, too. Remember how long it took for him to show up ?"

"Yeah yeah, and the connection was super weak, right ?" answered Hunk. "I don’t know. I wish Keith was here so we could ask him."

"Honestly ? I’ve been thinking about it. I mean, they’re friends, maybe he would know how to help Shiro. But, he’s at the Blades’ now, and we can’t just... call him about that."

"Why not ?" asked Pidge.

"Well, we haven’t contacted him once since he left, and that was months ago. We can’t just call him now only to complain we don’t get along with Shiro !" replied Lance, his voice getting a bit high-pitched in his frustration.

"Yeah, that would be awkward." admitted Hunk. "Also, he would totally freak out if he thought something was wrong with Shiro."

"Well, you’re not wrong..." conceded Lance.

"Maybe we should just call to ask how he’s doing, first ?" suggested Pidge. "Actually, I do want to know. It’s been a while."

 

Hunk picked up his metallic box again with a huff. "I don’t know, wouldn’t it be weird after all this time ? And Keith is not really one for small talk, is he ? Do the Blades even take casual calls anyway ? And what if he’s away on a mission ? Remember how he was always away when he was still piloting Black, and he wasn’t even a full-time Blade… And if he _is_ at Headquarters, wouldn’t we just disturb him ? I mean I miss him, I do… ! I just don’t know how..."

"Hunk, Hunk !" Lance made an appeasing gesture. "That’s ok, we’ll find a way."

Pidge chimed in : "We’ll see him the next time Kolivan calls, anyway"

"You mean, when he just stands there looking angry and saying nothing ?" protested Lance.

Pidge smiled. "I think it’s just his resting face." They all snickered.

"Well, we sure can’t talk about the Shiro issue on those calls, with everyone around..." sighed Lance. "And we can’t just chit-chat either."

"I wish he was just _there_ , you know ?!" grumbled Hunk. "I wish he’d come back, even if it’s only for a few days. It would make everything easier."

"You’re right about that." approved Pidge.

 

There was a short silence, only disturbed by the clangs Hunk made while working on his box. After a moment, he lifted the thing triumphantly : "It’s done !!!"

Lance raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Hu, cool. What is it ?"

"A toaster !!!" exclaimed Hunk cheerfully. "Can you believe Alteans don’t have that ?!"

"Hunk", Lance tried reasonably, "we don’t have any bread to toast."

Hunk smirked. "Don’t underestimate me."

He got up from the couch. "Come on guys ! We have to try it !"

Being asked by Hunk to test something related to food was usually a good sign. They both jumped up and followed him to the kitchen, excited by his contagious enthusiasm.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I made myself feel frustrated just by writing this ! Just give the quiznacking call !!!  
> I hope you enjoyed it, though ! Tell me what you thought in the comments or on [tumblr](https://ursae-minoris-world.tumblr.com/post/172704337558/just-a-call) !


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